


Call It What You Want To

by carsneedle



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: ABC Challenge, F/M, I basically started watching this show just for them, I'm trying to make them all sweet, nothing really explicit just a little bit of language, tbh I don't like zombies very much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23584627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carsneedle/pseuds/carsneedle
Summary: ABC Challenge Caryl drabblesnotes indicate the episode/season, and I do have a few AU's in thereasshole-bracelet-coffee-dog-embrace-food-gossip-humor-inevitable-jellybeans-karaoke-light-match-normalcy
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. asshole

He’s been sitting out there so long that it’s gotten dark, listening to Carol’s boy talk to the girl. 

“Your dad’s an asshole like mine,” she said. “All you did was sneak out." 

“Daryl’s not my dad,” he heard Henry say. “He doesn’t even want to be here. He’s only doing it as a favor for my mom.” 

He chewed on his thumb a little too aggressively. The sharpness kept his mind from wandering down a path he couldn't afford to go down at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9.10
> 
> (I'm also a major finger chewer I get it Daryl)


	2. bracelet

“Best friend?” she teases. “What are you, 10?”

“Whatever,” he says, but he’s smiling. 

“Should we have matching bracelets now?”

She missed this. For just a minute, she can imagine her arms wrapped around him on his bike. The two of them in another life where there is nothing but the dry desert heat and the open road.

She can’t help but smile as she ties the bracelet around her wrist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10.1
> 
> ( just made my partner watch this part so I could get the dialog. He was like, are they banging?)


	3. coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> coffee shop AU

She got the job at the coffee shop as a way to support herself and Sophia, after the divorce. But Carol would be the first to admit she loves the routine and order of things. She loves getting out and meeting people, and chatting with repeat customers. 

This one she hasn’t seen before. He looks kinda tough, all dressed in black with long hair that makes it hard to see his face clearly. 

She’s not sure what makes her write Pookie on the cup. She even draws a heart over the letter i. 

She hopes he comes back.


	4. dog

Henry had fallen asleep, and for some reason Carol felt compelled to fill the silence. 

“You named him Dog?”

She got a grunt in reply, which was more than she had been expecting. 

“You couldn’t think of anything more creative?” Carol couldn’t help but tease. 

“He kind of looks like a Rex to me,” she continued. “Or maybe a Roger.” 

“He likes it just fine,” Daryl said after a minute. His hair was still a little too long, despite her having just cut it. 

For just a minute she could pretend like things were the way they used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a scene I think should've happened in like 9.7
> 
> (this one is exactly 100 words c: man that's tricky)


	5. embrace

She came up out of nowhere, the quiet woman with the short hair. He handed her the pickaxe without argument. Her husband was a piece of shit anyway. Have to be blind not to notice the bruises and the way she’d tense up whenever he was nearby.

She seemed sad but also angry as she swung. Daryl wasn't too good with emotions, other people’s or his own. She seemed to fold in on herself while she cried. He wasn’t sure where the feeling like he should hug her came from. Instead he just stood there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.5


	6. food

Carol put some food on a tray to take upstairs. It seemed like the least she could do after everything Daryl had been through. She couldn’t help but notice the way he pulled the blanket up around himself like a small child, and the joke that came just a beat too late after she kissed his cheek softly. Like he wasn’t used to anyone being kind to him, or looking at him too closely. 

“I didn’t do anything Rick or Shane wouldn’t have done,” he said, like an excuse.

“You’re every bit as good as them” she said. “Every bit”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2.5


	7. gossip

The days were running together and Daryl hadn’t realized that he checked for her until it was already a habit. Maybe it was because nobody else was.

She was small and the nights were getting colder. After a while she seemed to leave a space for him. He never slept well anyway. One night she turned toward him, closer than usual. He put his arm around her before he realized what he was doing. 

He slept better than he had in awhile, late enough that a few of the others were awake. But if anyone had noticed, nobody said anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between seasons 2 & 3


	8. humor

Carol wondered if he’d seen her smile while he rubbed her shoulder. That was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time.

“It’s pretty romantic. You wanna screw around?” 

“Pffft,” he said, only because he knew she was joking. They both laughed. Carol felt grateful for whatever this was that let them tease each other like this.

“I’ll go down first,” he said, moving to join the others. 

“Even better.” She couldn’t help it, he’d walked into that one and his reactions were so priceless.

“Stop,” he said. He hoped she knew he didn’t mean it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3.1
> 
> (my tag for them would absolutely be OTP: you wanna screw around?)


	9. inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> soul mate AU

Daryl didn’t give much thought to it when the flower tattoo showed up on his chest. Who the hell finds their soulmate at the end of the world anyway? The whole thing was a bunch of bullshit. Look at his mom and dad.

Tired wasn’t enough to describe how he felt, after days of searching for the girl. When he saw that rose at the edge of the woods, he stopped. But he reached out to pick it and put it safely in his pocket.

It wasn’t hard to forget about it when it was cold and they were always on the run. He wasn’t trying to be a perv or anything, but they were all cramped together and he couldn’t help but see the arrow along her spine when she lifted up her shirt one night.


	10. jellybeans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4.1

Daryl hadn’t wasted time telling her that he was fine. He knew it wouldn’t stop her, so he let her look him over for cuts and bruises. 

“Good as new,” she pronounced. Her hand lingered on his shoulder.

“I got you somethin.’” In the chaos at the store, he’d forgotten about the candy in his pocket. He handed it to her.

“‘You bringing me presents now? What will all the other girls think?” At least she was smiling, even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

Instead of telling her to stop, he put his hand on top of hers.


	11. karaoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bartender AU

It was karaoke night, which meant the place was packed. Carol kept her eye on the big guy down at the end of the bar; he was loud, and she didn’t want him paying too much attention to the new girl Katie. She couldn’t help but notice the guy sitting next to him; she was divorced, not blind. Nice arms, dark hair. Sad eyes though. Maybe that was what made her take the shot down to him.

“It’s on the house, Pookie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally I wanted to make Daryl the bartender but this worked out cuter
> 
> ( I don't feel like this is too much info but my name is Carly so sometimes instead of typing Daryl I type Darly)


	12. light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 5.1

Daryl barely noticed how light she was when he picked her up. He hadn’t meant to. He hadn’t been aware that he was running toward her until his arms were wrapped around her and his face was buried in her shoulder. 

He hadn’t realized all the things that he hadn’t let himself feel until he saw her. After the fall of the prison, and losing Beth. Falling in with those guys. Kneeling in front of a tub waiting for his throat to be cut. He wasn’t sure he could have named what he was feeling now. Maybe it was hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this scene lives rent free in my head


	13. match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pacific Rim AU

Rick Grimes was a persuasive bastard, Daryl had to hand it to him. He’d never expected to be back at the Shatterdome. Not after his brother died. He figured the odds of him finding someone else that he’d be drift compatible with were slim. He wasn’t sure he wanted to anyway. 

He had to admit, the woman with the short gray hair caught his eye. The way she held herself also made it seem like she knew what it was like to have scars down her back. But he liked the way her blue eyes lit up when she smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could so write a full fic on this


	14. normalcy

She’d put on new clothes, thinking about how she’d lied during the interview with Deanna about who she was. Pretended like everything was normal. Like she was normal. 

Carol found him out on the porch and told him where she was going. Like she was the person who wore cardigans and made casseroles. When she asked if he’d showered, what she meant was I know this is weird. When she said she’d wash his vest, was she meant was we can do this together. When he said she looked ridiculous, what she heard was that none of this was normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5.12  
> (I think that's the episode)


End file.
